Happy Halloween!
Normally I would post an adorable picture of Rusty in costume, but I have decided to forego that particular tradition as Rusty does not really seem to enjoy it and I felt a little mean, but perhaps next year I'll ignore his pained expression.
I also just had my first tricker-treaters- who goes tricker treating in an apartment complex? I was not prepared. Luckily I have fruit snacks so I didn't have to turn them away- but fruit snacks are a rather lame 'treat' to hand out. If Rusty had only been in a costume- his cuteness may have made up for it.
Showing posts with label sorry no pictures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sorry no pictures. Show all posts
Monday, October 31, 2011
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Thoughts on NIAHD (and Keio too)
I have been busily grading papers for NIAHD (I only have 2 left!!!) and setting up my online class (only NINE weeks to go!!!) so I haven't posted anything here in a few days. Trust me, I'd rather be sharing pictures with you than grading papers.
Keio starts next week and I am a little sad I won't be working for them again. I am not sad that i will have some free time and will be able to visit with some family and friends who are coming to Virginia and to possibly work on my dissertation- oh and to teach the online class of course- but I am sad I won't get to hang out with some awesome students (because if this year's Keio students and even half as great as last year's it is going to be a good time).
NIAHD was a great experience. It was very different from Keio- for me the best part of Keio were my amazing students but I didn't really get to know the students with NIAHD because I was kind of like a substitute teacher- but I still had fun and I got to see a lot more of Virginia. Virginia is an amazing place to study history- the 'field trips' were totally worth suffering through the incredible heat and humidity well, mostly worth it (seriously it is disgusting here this summer- we have yet another heat advisory today- my family and friends who are coming to see me don't know what they are getting into to- no one is going to want to leave my air-conditioned apartment- I certainly don't want to. Ever. So gross). I also got to work with some amazing people. I love american studies but it was nice to get back to my history roots. And the one useful thing about the disgusting weather is that I think it really helped the students realize how difficult life was for a lot of our ancestors- especially the millions of Africans who were brought here as slaves.
All that said, it is really nice to be able to sit on my couch, with my faithful dog snuggled next to a me, and to waste some time on the internet. (Inside. Where its air-conditioned).
Keio starts next week and I am a little sad I won't be working for them again. I am not sad that i will have some free time and will be able to visit with some family and friends who are coming to Virginia and to possibly work on my dissertation- oh and to teach the online class of course- but I am sad I won't get to hang out with some awesome students (because if this year's Keio students and even half as great as last year's it is going to be a good time).
NIAHD was a great experience. It was very different from Keio- for me the best part of Keio were my amazing students but I didn't really get to know the students with NIAHD because I was kind of like a substitute teacher- but I still had fun and I got to see a lot more of Virginia. Virginia is an amazing place to study history- the 'field trips' were totally worth suffering through the incredible heat and humidity well, mostly worth it (seriously it is disgusting here this summer- we have yet another heat advisory today- my family and friends who are coming to see me don't know what they are getting into to- no one is going to want to leave my air-conditioned apartment- I certainly don't want to. Ever. So gross). I also got to work with some amazing people. I love american studies but it was nice to get back to my history roots. And the one useful thing about the disgusting weather is that I think it really helped the students realize how difficult life was for a lot of our ancestors- especially the millions of Africans who were brought here as slaves.
All that said, it is really nice to be able to sit on my couch, with my faithful dog snuggled next to a me, and to waste some time on the internet. (Inside. Where its air-conditioned).
Monday, July 12, 2010
Colonial Williamsburg
Today I was with the Colonial group- they, not surprisingly, spend several days in CW. As I have been there numerous times and have shared probably too many pictures of it here I didn't bother with pictures today- sorry if this disappoints.
They are trying something new at CW- when they take you on house tours the interpreters (the costumed people) are 'in the moment.' So instead of basically lecturing the tour group on the history of the house they told us what day it was- July 12, 1776- and pretended it was that day throughout the tour. The girl at the Governor's Palace was really cute- she was supposed to be a servant, I missed the beginning of her talk because I was dealing with some student issues but I think she was acting like we were other servants there for the day to help with a ball they were hosting that night. She acted like she was sneaking us around the house because the family was out and we were in rooms servants wouldn't normally be allowed. Unfortunately the students weren't as into it as she was- they were all very polite but I think the whole thing made everyone a little self conscious. I also felt kind of bad for the poor couple that was stuck in a group with us.
The tour of the Capitol was also 'in the moment' but it seemed closer to other tours I have taken of it- the interpreter there told us all about what had been happening in the last year.
We also went to the Wren Chapel and listened to a sermon by Reverend Camm (he was the President of WIlliam & Mary at the time of the Revolution and was a Loyalist- he was ousted from the college and returned to England in 1777) and then had the opportunity to ask him questions in the classroom. I guess he was also 'in the moment' because one of the students asked him about something Lord Dunmore wrote (I couldn't actually hear the question) there was a long pause and the Rev answered that he hadn't written that yet. This got a laugh. It was kind of fun to listen to him talk- the interpreter has clearly been playing this role for a long time and enjoyed debating independence with the audience. I was a little surprised by how many people were at his talk- since it really was like a sermon.
I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole 'in the moment' thing- but I must say, regardless of how you feel about interpreters at these different sites you have to admit that they are teaching people a lot about history- and it's rather surprising that so many people spend their summer vacation learning about history.
They are trying something new at CW- when they take you on house tours the interpreters (the costumed people) are 'in the moment.' So instead of basically lecturing the tour group on the history of the house they told us what day it was- July 12, 1776- and pretended it was that day throughout the tour. The girl at the Governor's Palace was really cute- she was supposed to be a servant, I missed the beginning of her talk because I was dealing with some student issues but I think she was acting like we were other servants there for the day to help with a ball they were hosting that night. She acted like she was sneaking us around the house because the family was out and we were in rooms servants wouldn't normally be allowed. Unfortunately the students weren't as into it as she was- they were all very polite but I think the whole thing made everyone a little self conscious. I also felt kind of bad for the poor couple that was stuck in a group with us.
The tour of the Capitol was also 'in the moment' but it seemed closer to other tours I have taken of it- the interpreter there told us all about what had been happening in the last year.
We also went to the Wren Chapel and listened to a sermon by Reverend Camm (he was the President of WIlliam & Mary at the time of the Revolution and was a Loyalist- he was ousted from the college and returned to England in 1777) and then had the opportunity to ask him questions in the classroom. I guess he was also 'in the moment' because one of the students asked him about something Lord Dunmore wrote (I couldn't actually hear the question) there was a long pause and the Rev answered that he hadn't written that yet. This got a laugh. It was kind of fun to listen to him talk- the interpreter has clearly been playing this role for a long time and enjoyed debating independence with the audience. I was a little surprised by how many people were at his talk- since it really was like a sermon.
I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole 'in the moment' thing- but I must say, regardless of how you feel about interpreters at these different sites you have to admit that they are teaching people a lot about history- and it's rather surprising that so many people spend their summer vacation learning about history.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
I wanted Rusty to be thankful today too- which is why there is no picture of him dressed up as a turkey.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
This week
I haven't had much to say lately- and I still don't but I'll give you an update anyway.
School wasn't quite as overwhelming this week and I thought I was doing really well keeping up until I went to one of my classes and realized that I had only done half the reading! The professor had assigned a book and several articles and I read the book but completely spaced the articles. I should have been suspicious when I stopped feeling overwhelmed.
I'm still really enjoying the class I TA for, the students are very enthusiastic which makes leading discussion session far less painful.
Yesterday one of my classes met at the library, I hadn't been there before- that part of campus is really pretty- I would have taken pics to share but I would have felt like a dork. Eventually I'll take some pictures around town to share.
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